


I've got my long sleeves on

by Alia_JuneBug



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt Peter Parker, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Self-Harm, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-06
Updated: 2020-11-06
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:27:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27424195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alia_JuneBug/pseuds/Alia_JuneBug
Summary: This is an incredibly short story, like no lead-up or follow-upBasically, peter has been self harming and Tony finds out
Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 16
Kudos: 163
Collections: Read





	I've got my long sleeves on

**Author's Note:**

> This fic deals with self harm, so if that is something that will be bad for your mental health please don't read this. It's not worth it :)

Peter stared through the tinted glass of the large window. He was seated on the small ledge Tony had installed on the outside of the tower after he had gotten tired of security not letting Peter into the private elevator. The ledge was a direct result and it also allowed Peter to go straight into the tower without having to get changed. He had been sitting there the better part of an hour now, not wanting to go inside because that would draw questions, but not really sure where else to go.

It was snowing, but he couldn’t seem to find the energy to care that he was shivering. May was probably worried out of her mind, he had run off after an explosive argument about his well-being. He had been avoiding everyone and May had finally confronted him about it. May had been right, he wasn’t okay, but he wasn’t in the mood to talk about it.

He wasn’t even sure how he had ended up at the tower, he guessed it was just autopilot when he threw the suit on. He knew he should probably go in, but he didn’t want to bother Tony with his stupid teenage problems. 

Peter let out a weary sigh and leaned forward, letting his head hit the glass with a thunk. His mind kept going back to May’s words, “Peter you’re not okay, this is not okay”. He let out a short laugh, May didn’t even know the half of it. His anxiety had been off the walls, and he was super stressed out. Not to mention he had started to self-harm about 7 months ago. He grimaced as he reached up to rub his arm, irritating the cuts. 

Thank goodness for Ned’s hacking skills, the last thing he needed was Karen reporting his injuries. It wasn’t a big deal anyways, they disappeared in a couple days thanks to his super healing. And he was doing it to himself. You don’t deserve help for problems you cause, everyone knew that. Especially if the problems weren’t that big.

Karen’s voice cut in, startling him out of his self-deprecating thoughts. “Peter, you have been staring at this window for over an hour now. Would you like me to contact Mr. Stark?”

“No! No don’t do that Karen”

“Okay then, I will not let Mr. Stark know that you have been staring through his living room window for a concerning amount of time”

The AI’s tone was sarcastic, but Peter still winced at the thought of Mr. Stark finding out about anything. He could already imagine the disappointment in the man’s eyes when he found out that Peter was so weak he had started cutting himself. What kind of superhero was he, if he couldn’t even take care of himself. 

He was so lost in his head he didn’t even notice the window opening, letting out a startled shout as he fell into Mr. Stark's living room head first. He landed in a heap, quickly scrambling to his feet to see Mr. Stark standing with an amused look on his face, a barely restrained smile on his lips.

“Hi Peter”

“He-Hey Mr. Stark” Peter stammered. “What are you doing here?.

He grimaced as soon as the words left his mouth. What are you doing here? Really Peter? Mr. Stark lived here.

Tony raised an eyebrow, the smile still playing on the edge of his lips

“Are you going to tell me why you were outside my window in this weather? And not even coming in for that matter?”

Peter blushed, thankful the mask covered his face. 

“Uhh… I was just going for a swing and the ledge just looked really comfy so I thought I could just sit there for a while, you know. The view is really nice and I think you should install them all over your tower becau-”

“Kid”. Tony cut him off mid-ramble, eyebrows lifting as he glanced outdoors. The snow was coming down harder now and Tony let out an audible laugh. 

“Not in that weather. Try again”

“I was just kinda making sure the uh ledge thingy was um, still working?” Peter stumbled over his words, hoping his embarrassment wasn’t too obvious.

Tony sighed and ran a hand over his face. “Kid”

Peter looked at him

“May called me”

Peter froze. He felt guilty about running off like that, but she didn’t need to tell Mr. Stark about it.

“Oh”

“Yeah, Oh is right” Tony crossed his arms, leveling Peter with what Rhodey had called his “Dad Stare”

Peter seemed to shrink into himself, glancing around as if hoping the designer couches would save him from this conversation.

“It’s not that big a deal” He mumbled “We just had a little fight, I was going to head back in a little bit”

Tony stared at him with a look Peter couldn’t figure out. “Running off like that isn’t like you kiddo, what’s been going on?”

“Nothing” 

Tony shook his head. “Yeah I don’t think so. You’ve been acting off these past couple weeks, what’s up with that.”

Peter stared at the ceiling, trying to will away the tears that were stubbornly pushing their way to the front of his eyes. Of course he had to start crying now, in front of Mr. Stark. Gosh, he was such a baby. He had run out to avoid having this exact conversation, why did Tony want to have it too.

“I don’t want to talk about it”

“Nope,” Tony said “That’s not on the cards, we’re not moving until you tell me what’s wrong”

The silence stretched between them, Peter looking anywhere but Tony, scuffing the floor with his toe.

Tony gave another weary sigh, gesturing with a hand at Peter’s face. “Mask off kiddo, I need to see your face.”

Peter yanked the mask off with a hand, purposefully not meeting Tony's eyes. 

“Nothing’s wrong Mr. Stark.” Peter’s voice wavered. “I’m fine”.

Tony took a step forward, tilting his head to get a better look at Peter’s face. 

“Peter” he said. 

Hearing his name seemed to startle Peter, and he flinched. His lip trembled, hands gripping the mask so tightly Tony feared he would rip it. 

“Kiddo” He grabbed Peter’s chin and tilted his head to look him in the eyes. “You gotta talk to me, I don’t know what’s wrong”

A muffled sob forced its way out of Peter’s mouth and he twisted his head, not wanting to look at Mr. Stark.

This night was not going how he had planned it, why was Mr. Stark so nosy. He had just wanted to get some air, not have a stupid heart to heart. His mind cycled through the pros and cons of suddenly jumping out the window, his hand subconsciously reaching up to grab his arm. The burning was barely registering, his focus on the window and trying to avoid the concerned look in Tony’s eyes.

A hand landed on his shoulder and he couldn’t keep it in anymore.

“I-I’m sorry” he choked out, unable to stop the tears from spilling down his cheek.

Confusion deepened in Tony’s eyes, his gaze roaming Peter’s face, desperate for any sort of clue to what was wrong. He didn’t think the kid was injured, but with the way Peter was acting he wasn’t too sure. About to call Dr. Cho because yes, he was panicking, his gaze caught on the kid’s hand wrapped tightly around his arm. 

A small weight lifted from Tony’s shoulders at the same time something heavy settled in his stomach, because at least now he had something to work with even if it was an injury. “Kid let me see”, his tone was soft, almost pleading. 

Peter shook his head and stepped backwards, leaving Tony more scared than he had ever been. Peter never said no, especially not to Tony. He knew the kid had a problem with hiding injuries, but directly refusing help? That was a new one. 

He stepped forward quickly, grabbing Peter’s arm before he could step away again. He heard Peter hiss as he pulled it towards him, thoughts racing through his head at light-speed. Several ideas were coming to mind, each one worse than the one before it. 

He grabbed the edge of Peter’s sleeve, worry increasing as he saw the flash of fear run through his eyes. Tony wasn’t stupid, he was a certified genius to be exact, and he had gone through enough rough patches in his life to piece together what was probably happening.

He had been observing Peter for weeks now, trying to figure out what was wrong with his kid. Now that the pieces were coming together, he knew that he wasn’t going to like the answer.

He pulled up the suit’s sleeve, heart sinking at the sight of red lines criss-crossing Peter’s thin wrist and arm. The longer he stared at it the more upset he got with himself, how could he have missed this? The signs were right in front of him, he should have been able to tell that Peter was struggling. What kind of a mentor was he?

He was drawn out of his thoughts by another sob. He looked up to see Peter, his eyes screwed shut trying to stammer out an apology.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I couldn’t- I can’t, don’t be mad”

He was cut off as Tony crushed him into his chest, one hand on his back, the other running through his curls.

“No kid” Tony murmured, tightening his grip on the shaking teen. “Don’t you dare apologize, don’t you dare.” 

He was answered with another sob, each cry cutting deeper into Tony’s heart. It was killing him that Peter had been struggling and he hadn’t known, hadn’t done anything about it. He couldn’t imagine the hurt that Peter had felt to have turned to this.

“I’m so proud of you kiddo” He whispered. “You don’t have to do this alone anymore, I got you.”

The strength seemed to go out of Peter at that comment and he and Tony slid to the floor, Tony not daring to let go for even a second. 

“It’s gonna be okay kid, I promise” His hands continued to card through Peter’s hair, cradling him against his chest.

Tony didn’t know how long they sat there, but it was long enough that Peter’s sobs eventually died down to small sniffles.

He leaned down, pressing a kiss into Peter’s curls. 

“I got you kiddo, we’re going to be okay”

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Peter grinned as he fell backwards, wind whipping around him as he plummeted. He waited until the last second, shooting a web only when he couldn’t wait a second longer. He whooped, flipping in the air as he swung through the streets.

It had been over 3 months since Tony had confronted him at the tower. A tear-filled conversation and lots of breakdowns later, Peter could finally say that he was 4 months clean. Yay for him. Swinging up to the top of a nearby building and perching on the edge, he reached up to pull his mask off, sucking in great lungfuls of the fresh air. 

His pocket buzzed, and he pulled out his phone to see the caller ID. He smiled as he lifted the phone up to his ear.

“Hey Mr. Stark!”

“Hey underoos, are you almost done with patrol?”

Peter looked at his watch, grinning at the time.

“Yep!” he chirped, popping the p. “I’m on my way right now”.

There was a loud noise on the other side of the phone, followed by a couple curses and a muffled “Dang it DUM-E” a couple more seconds of noise ensued before Tony’s voice finally came back on.

“Sorry about that,” Tony said. “DUM-E, dropped a wrench on my foot again”.

Peter laughed, a bright, open sound.

“Oh you think my pain is funny do you?” Tony asked, trying to sound angry but failing miserably.

Peter giggled again. “Absolutely, I’ll see you in a bit Mr. Stark”

Tony smiled, affection covering his words. “See you in a bit kiddo, swing safely”

“Will do Mr. Stark!” He hung up, shoving his phone in his pocket before free falling once more. The biggest smile he’d had in a while on his face.

Yeah, he thought. Peter would say he was doing okay.

**Author's Note:**

> If you are dealing with self harm please know that getting clean is so so worth it. You are so loved and I am always down to talk if you need someone. Also, there is no limit to how long or how much you need to self harm before you can get help. Someone who thinks about self harming, someone who has been self harming for a month, and someone who has been self harming for years are all deserving of help. It is okay to ask for help, you 100% deserve it.
> 
> Hopefully my writing wasn't that bad haha, it's my first fic


End file.
